Deputy Principal Staff and Students Report

Welcome

It has been fantastic to be able to welcome our students back for 2023. The year has started well and students have been in good spirits. This year our school has 100 more students than in 2022, including approximately 180 students in Year 7.  We have also welcomed nearly 40 students into other year levels.

Partnership

As always, the school works in partnership with parents/guardians/carers as the Primary Educators of their children. The closer we work as a team, the better outcomes for the students.  We encourage you to contact your child’s Pastoral Teacher as the first point of contact for families should you have any questions. If there are any issues or information that would help the College to best support your child please let us know.

Child Safety

The safety of our students is so important. The school has a Child Safety Team to lead child safety in the College. Ms Jackie Kol (Director of Student Wellbeing), Ms Casey Cilia (Counsellor), Ms Arlene Diston (Counsellor) and myself are the members of the Child Safety Team. Please contact any of the team should there be any concerns, issues or questions in relation to Child Safety.

New Staff and Positions

With our College numbers growing, there is a need for new staff this year, which was added to by a number of staff moving on at the end of 2022 to new positions. We are very blessed to have the new staff we have joining us bringing great experience and energy to our community. There have also been a number of positions of leadership in the College that have been changed. Please refer to the attached document to see a list of new positions of leadership and all the positions in the school. 

Bell Times

I would like to remind you of the new bell times. A letter was sent earlier in the year with new bell times. Please find attached the 2023 bell times for your information. The school day commences at 8.48 am for all students and concludes at 3.02 pm  The exception to this is every second Tuesday (Day 2) where the school day concludes at 1.32 pm.

Please be aware that staff yard duty commences 20 minutes before the start of the school day and concludes 20 minutes after the finish of the school day. There are no staff on yard duty of a morning until 8.28 am. The Resource Centre opens at 8.00 am for student use if they arrive early in the morning. In the afternoons students are able to go to the Resource Centre until it closes at 4.30 pm.  In the afternoon staff are on yard duty until 3.22 pm (1.52 pm on Day 2 every second Tuesday). 

The Homework Club runs in the Resource Centre until 5.30 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (it concludes at 3.30 pm on Day 2). The Homework Club will commence in Week 3. 

Car Park

Due to renovations the car park at the rear of the school is closed and therefore there is an increase in the number of cars in the front car park. Please be mindful of this. To avoid congestion in the car park and for child safety, we encourage parents/guardians/carers to, where possible, pick students up and drop them off outside the College gates in a nearby streets and for students to use the school crossing at the front of the school if they need to cross the road.

Rear Crossing

We are also pleased to announce that to further enhance the safe travelling of our students, there will now be two School Crossing Supervisors at the rear gate to the school, on Police Road. We ask parents/guardians/carers to speak to their child/children about checking the road to ensure the traffic has stopped before stepping onto the school crossing, and to follow the directions of the School Crossing Supervisors.  

2023

Following on from a challenging 2022 there is a big focus for our community this year on living out our behavioural expectations and raising the bar in relation to behaviour, approach to work and following on, academic results. We have taken a strong and consistent approach with school uniform as we are working towards our students having a respect for this and further building a sense of community.

 All students attended a School Assembly earlier this week with the Principal, Mr Sam Cosentino, in relation to the College's behavioural expectations to ensure all students have heard the same message. So far the response of students has been very positive and we look forward to building our community up further, united in Jesus Christ.

Looking Ahead

Please refer below to a few key dates for your forward planning:

• Wednesday, 22 February 2023:  Ash Wednesday Prayer Service.
• Friday 3 March 2023: Staff Wellbeing Day (all day).  No classes, no students.
• Wednesday 8 March 2023:  Year 7 Immunisation,  Round #1.
• Thursday 9 March 2023: Opening School Mass, 10.30 am (Archbishop Peter Comensoli).
• Monday 13 March 2023: Labour Day Public Holiday (No school).
• Thursday 16 March 2023:  Whole School Swimming Carnival (all day).
• Mon 27 March to Wed 29 March 2023:  Year 7 Camp, Group #1.
• Wed 29 March to Fri 31 March 2023: Year 7 Camp, Group #2. 

We feel privileged and excited to be able to work with your child/children this year and look forward to working with families. Please always feel most welcome to contact the College should there be any questions or anything we can assist with.

We hope to see you at the College soon.

God Bless 

Mr Justin Duckett

Deputy Principal Staff and Students